Lee Kanghyun continued speaking calmly, completely unconcerned by the shock on everyone’s faces.
“Immigration paperwork, packing, getting on a plane, adapting once I get there, learning the language… Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up from how much work it sounds like. So I pay my fines and stay here instead. You should be grateful I’m lazy. If I were diligent, I’d have left ages ago.”
Someone let out an incredulous laugh.
“But if you people keep making my life this annoying, I might change my mind.”
He tilted his head crookedly and pointed a finger at Assemblyman Kim.
“Police questioning? Hearings? Prison? All of that is a hundred times more annoying than emigrating. If the choice is getting treated like a criminal here and being summoned back and forth whenever you feel like it, or getting on a plane once and living like royalty somewhere else, the second option sounds a lot less troublesome.”
“W-What is that supposed to be… a threat?”
“Not a threat. A notice.”
Lee Kanghyun glanced at Kang Yujun.
His brow furrowed immediately.
“And there’s something else that’s been getting on my nerves.”
His eyes sharpened viciously. The open displeasure directed at Assemblyman Kim was impossible to miss.
“Stop yelling at Kang Yujun.”
“What?”
“Number one in Hunter performance in South Korea. Number one in individual donations. He works himself to the bone three hundred sixty-five days a year protecting your lives. The country should be treating him like a treasure, and instead you’re treating him like a criminal because he protected one guy like me?”
Lee Kanghyun’s voice turned colder.
“If you want to curse someone out or throw stones, do it at me. Stop taking your anger out on someone who has nothing to do with it.”
Kang Yujun stared at him in surprise.
Lee Kanghyun, who was always acting like Kang Yujun was a nuisance and pushing him away, was defending him.
Without even looking at Kang Yujun, Lee Kanghyun kept his eyes fixed straight ahead and snapped,
“He’s too damn nice, so he bows his head and says yes to everything like a pushover. Does that make him look easy to you?”
Assemblyman Kim’s face flushed red, then purple.
A wanted fugitive had walked into the National Assembly and was now lecturing a National Assembly member while standing behind the overwhelming force of an S-rank Hunter.
Yet under the murderous pressure rolling off Lee Kanghyun, he could not manage a single word in response.
Whirr—THUD!
Lee Kanghyun yanked the microphone free and tossed it onto the table.
A sharp burst of feedback rang through the room.
“If you send police to my house one more time, interfere with my rest because you don’t know your place, or try some pathetic stunt against Kang Yujun again…”
He lightly patted Kang Yujun’s stiff shoulder a few times and drove the point home.
“Then I really am leaving this country. Both of us. Try stopping us if you can.”
“H-Hunter Lee Kanghyun!”
“If we get pissed off enough to go on strike, you’re the ones who’ll suffer. Not us.”
Kang Yujun forgot to breathe for a moment.
He stared up at Lee Kanghyun blankly.
Lee Kanghyun could make an expression like that?
It was unfamiliar.
Far too unfamiliar.
And yet Kang Yujun could not look away.
He had always thought of Lee Kanghyun as a hopeless mess who needed someone to look after him.
But right now, for once, Lee Kanghyun looked dependable.
Holy shit.
Kang Yujun swallowed dryly.
Did I just think Lee Kanghyun looked cool?
“Let’s go.”
Lee Kanghyun grabbed the dazed Kang Yujun by the wrist.
Kang Yujun did not even think to resist as he was dragged away.
Camera flashes exploded everywhere, and reporters tried to block their path, but Lee Kanghyun never slowed down.
Kang Yujun simply let himself be hauled along, staring blankly at Lee Kanghyun’s face.
The instant they exited the National Assembly building, Lee Kanghyun shoved Kang Yujun into the red sports car.
“Get in.”
Kang Yujun dropped into the passenger seat.
Lee Kanghyun climbed into the driver’s seat immediately afterward and slammed the door.
The engine roared to life, and the car pulled away.
Kang Yujun stole a glance at Lee Kanghyun’s profile behind the wheel.
His eyes kept drifting back there without his permission.
“Ah, fuck.”
Lee Kanghyun glanced at his hair in the rearview mirror and immediately scowled.
“This is so damn uncomfortable.”
The second they stopped at a red light, Lee Kanghyun raked both hands roughly through his hair.
The carefully styled strands fell apart, several locks dropping back over his forehead.
Then he yanked irritably at his tie until it loosened and undid the top button of his shirt.
“Kang Yujun. How the hell do you wear this kind of thing every day? I actually respect you for it.”
Grumble, grumble.
His usual bone-deep laziness dripped from every word.
The cold, razor-sharp eyes that had glared down a National Assembly member were gone.
Now his unfocused, half-dead gaze stared through the windshield.
“I’m dying…”
Lee Kanghyun groaned and dropped his forehead onto the steering wheel.
“I just used up a year’s worth of energy. Battery’s dead. Don’t touch me.”
He looked like some shapeless slime that had melted into the driver’s seat.
“Hey, you…”
Kang Yujun stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you actually the same guy from five minutes ago?”
“Shut up. I don’t even have the energy to talk.”
Kang Yujun accidentally let out a small laugh.
“Why are you laughing?”
“No reason.”
He had been terrifyingly cool a moment ago, and then instantly turned pathetic.
The contrast was so ridiculous that Kang Yujun could not help laughing.
More than that, he looked cute.
Thinking Lee Kanghyun was cute.
Kang Yujun had clearly lost his mind.
“But why did you come? I told you to stay hidden and let me handle it.”
“Watching TV pissed me off.”
Lee Kanghyun shot him an irritated look.
“Hey. Are you seriously that much of a pushover? Why were you sitting there like an idiot letting them curse you out? Did you do something wrong? Why didn’t you say a damn thing?”
Even while being viciously scolded by Lee Kanghyun, Kang Yujun could not stop the smile leaking out.
Now he understood.
All those harsh words Lee Kanghyun threw at him were coming out because he was worried.
“Whose fault do you think that was?”
“What?”
“If I’d flipped everything over in there, all the arrows would’ve turned on you too. They’d say birds of a feather flock together and start tearing into both of us for having personality problems. Then you’d be the one in trouble.”
Kang Yujun looked ahead.
“That’s why I kept quiet.”
“……”
“But I’m glad I did.”
Kang Yujun slowly reached over and fixed Lee Kanghyun’s disheveled hair.
“Thanks to that, I got to see you come charging in to protect me.”
His smile softened.
“I was actually pretty moved.”
Lee Kanghyun immediately turned his head away from Kang Yujun’s gaze.
“Bullshit. Who asked you? Don’t do that again. Protecting me, my ass. You pissed me off so badly I almost died.”
The light changed.
Lee Kanghyun hurriedly started driving again.
His face was rigid, but it was painfully obvious that he was embarrassed.
The tips of his ears had turned slightly red.
Seeing that, Kang Yujun’s mischievous streak immediately awakened.
He slowly leaned toward Lee Kanghyun and brought his face closer.
“Kanghyun.”
“What. Get away from me.”
Lee Kanghyun recoiled in disgust, but Kang Yujun refused to back off and moved even closer with a grin.
“No, seriously. You were really cool back there. When you opened those doors and walked in—wow. You looked like the main character in a movie.”
“Shut up. Please.”
The more Lee Kanghyun suffered, the more delighted Kang Yujun became.
“And the way you walked in all confidently. I almost wondered if you were really the same guy who usually drags his slippers everywhere.”
“Stop it. Seriously. Before I dump you on the side of the road.”
Lee Kanghyun tightened his grip on the steering wheel threateningly.
Kang Yujun showed absolutely no intention of stopping.
If anything, his eyes lit up.
“Especially that line. Wow. I should’ve recorded it.”
Kang Yujun lowered his voice and imitated Lee Kanghyun.
“‘Stop yelling at Kang Yujun.’”
He grinned.
“That was insanely commanding.”
“I told you to stop!”
Lee Kanghyun shrieked and covered one ear with one hand.
His only regret was that he needed the other hand to drive and could not cover both.
“Why? It was cool. I thought my heart was going to stop right there.”
“Shut the hell up!”
Kang Yujun lightly tapped Lee Kanghyun’s reddened ear and whispered in the most nauseatingly smooth voice imaginable,
“Take responsibility, Lee Kanghyun. I seriously almost fell for you just now.”
“Get out! Get out right now! Just get the hell out!”
Lee Kanghyun’s scream filled the car.
“Hahahaha! Ah, my stomach hurts.”
Kang Yujun laughed until tears came out as he watched Lee Kanghyun suffer.
What an incredible reaction.
He had a feeling he could tease Lee Kanghyun about this for the rest of his life and never get bored.
Lee Kanghyun silently kept his foot on the accelerator until Kang Yujun’s laughter finally died down, suppressing the urge to abandon him on the side of the road through sheer force of patience.
Eventually, the commotion passed and peace returned to the car.
Lee Kanghyun was still breathing irritably through his nose, and Kang Yujun was still staring at him with an unbearably pleased expression, but at least it was quiet.
After they had driven for some time, Lee Kanghyun slowed down and pulled up in front of a familiar building.
Screech.
The car stopped.
Kang Yujun looked out the window and blinked.
“Huh? This is the Association.”
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t we going home?”
Lee Kanghyun shook his head and turned off the engine.
“I’m going inside.”
“Inside where?”
“The Association detention room.”
“Are you insane? You’re going in there voluntarily?”
“There’s already a nationwide warrant out for me. Running around will just make things more annoying. I’ll think of it as sleeping there for a few days.”
Without hesitation, Lee Kanghyun opened the car door and got out.
Kang Yujun hurried after him.
“Wait. Think about this again. At least stay out until we prove you didn’t do anything—”
“Enough.”
Lee Kanghyun completely loosened his tie and tossed it at Kang Yujun.
“I’m sleepy. I’m going in there to sleep.”
Then he turned around and trudged toward the Association lobby exactly like someone on his way to bed.
Kang Yujun stared blankly at his back.
“Lee Kanghyun!”
Kang Yujun shouted.
Lee Kanghyun had just been about to press the elevator button.
He stopped and looked back.
“What now?”
“Behave yourself in there. Eat properly. And if you’re in pain, tell someone immediately.”
“Am I a child?”
“Yeah. You are. A high-maintenance one.”
Kang Yujun looked directly into Lee Kanghyun’s eyes and spoke as though making a promise.
“I’ll get you out soon. Just hold out for a few days.”
“Just go already.”
Ding.
The elevator doors opened.
Lee Kanghyun stepped inside without looking back.
Even after the doors closed, Kang Yujun remained where he was, staring at them.